odds plut and her nails
A Welch oath, frequently mentioned in a jocular manner by persons, it is hoped, ignorant of its meaning; which is, By God's blood, and the nails with which he was nailed to the cross.
English · UK & Ireland 17968
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Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
Expressions you’ll hear in Britain and Ireland — distinctly British usage first, then widespread staples.
off and on
Vacillating; "an OFF AND ON kind of a chap," one who is always undecided.
off one's feed
Having lost one's appetite or enthusiasm
off one’s chump
To be crazy is to be OFF ONE’S CHUMP; this is varied by the word CHUMPY. A mild kind of lunatic is also said to be "off his head," which means of course exactly the same as the first phrase.
off the horn
A term used in reference to very hard steak, which is fancifully said to be OFF THE HORN.
office
To give the office; to give information, or make signs to the officers to take a thief.
office
"to give the OFFICE," to give a hint dishonestly to a confederate, thereby enabling him to win a game or bet, the profits being shared. Also in sporting phraseology to give any information worth having.
offish
Distant, not familiar. Corruption of STAND-OFFISH.
ogle
To look, or reconnoitre.
ogles
Eyes. Rum ogles; fine eyes.
ogles
Eyes.—Old Cant. French, ŒIL.
oil of gladness
I will anoint you with the oil of gladness; ironically spoken for, I will beat you.
oil of stirrup
A dose the cobler gives his wife whenever she is obstropulous.
ointment
Medical student slang for butter.
old boots
A simile as general in its application as it is irrelevant. "Like OLD BOOTS" means like anything. "As cheeky as OLD BOOTS;" "As quick as OLD BOOTS," seem a little more reasonable, new boots being somewhat unfavourable to speedy locomotion.
old dog
A knowing blade, an experienced person. Butler uses the phrase, Hudibras, part ii. canto iii. 208, where it was said of Sidrophel, "And was OLD DOG at physiology." An Irish proverb says, "OLD DOG for hard road," meaning that it requires an experienced person to execute a difficult undertaking.
old hand
An experienced person
old harry
A composition used by vintners to adulterate their wines; also the nick-name for the devil.
old horse
salt junk
old hoss
A term of endearment, originally an Americanism, but now in common use here among friends.
old lady in threadneedle street
The Bank of England.
old man
In American merchant ships, the master. The phrase is becoming common in English ships.
old mr
GORY. A piece of gold.
old nick
The Devil: from NEKEN, the evil spirit of the north.
old one
The Devil. Likewise an expression of quizzical familiarity, as "how d'ye do, OLD ONE?"
old pegg
Poor Yorkshire cheese, made of skimmed milk.
old stager
An experienced person, especially in a particular profession or activity
old tom
Extra strong gin; sometimes termed CAT’S WATER. Various reasons are given for the use of the words OLD TOM. The distillers have the sign of a tom cat on their illuminated placards. The origin of the phrase is, however, in the fact that the managing clerk of a once celebrated "gin-spinning" firm, who was known as OLD TOM, used to keep a special bottle of extra good stuff with which to regale customers when they settled their accounts. To get a drink of OLD TOM’S was then a great favour.
oliver
The moon; "OLIVER don’t widdle," i.e., the moon does not shine. Nearly obsolete.
ollapod
A country apothecary. From George Coleman’s comedy of The Poor Gentleman.
olli compolli
The name of one of the principal rogues of the canting crew. CANT.
omee
A master or landlord; "the OMEE of the carsey’s a nark on the pitch," the master of the house will not let us perform. Italian, UOMO, a man; "UOMO DELLA CASA," the master of the house. Latin, HOMO.—Lingua Franca.
omnium gatherum
The whole together: jocular imitation of law Latin.
on
"to be ON," in public-house or vulgar parlance, is synonymous with getting "tight" or tipsy; "it’s St. Monday with him, I see he’s ON again," i.e., drunk as usual, or on the road to it. "I’m ON" also expresses a person’s acceptance of an offered bet. To GET ON a horse or a man is to make bets on it or him. "Try it ON," a defiant challenge to a person.
on the loose
Free to move or act without restriction
on the nose
exactly right or accurate
on the shelf
Unused or postponed, often indefinitely
on the tiles
Out all night "on the spree," or carousing,—in allusion to the London cats on their amatory excursions. See CATERWAULING.
one in ten
A parson: an allusion to his tithes.
one-er
That which stands for ONE, a blow that requires no repeating. In The Old Curiosity Shop, the "Marchioness" tells Dick Swiveller that "her missus is a ONE-ER"—there a variation of "stunner."
onion
A seal. Onion hunters, a class of young thieves who are on the look out for gentlemen who wear their seals suspended on a ribbon, which they cut, and thus secure the seals or other trinkets suspended to the watch.
open arse
A medlar. See MEDLAR.
open the ball
To commence anything.
optime
The senior and junior optimes are the second and last classes of Cambridge honors conferred on taking a degree. That of wranglers is the first. The last junior optime is called the Wooden Spoon.
oracle
"to work the ORACLE," to plan, manœuvre, to succeed by a wily stratagem.
orate
An Americanism, which means, to speak in public, or make an oration.
organ
A pipe. Will you cock your organ? will you smoke your pipe?
organ-grinder
An itinerant who is supposed to "GRIND" music out of a barrel-organ.
originator
An inventor of plans for the formation of joint-stock companies. The originator submits his schemes to the promoter, who accepts or rejects them.
orinoko
(pronounced ORINOKER), a poker.
orthodoxy and heterodoxy
Somebody explained these terms by saying, the first was a man who had a doxy of his own, the second a person who made use of the doxy of another man.
oschives
Bone-handled knives. CANT.
otter
Eightpence. Italian, OTTO, eight.—Lingua Franca.
ottomised
To be ottomised; to be dissected. You'll be scragged, ottomised, and grin in a glass case: you'll be hanged, anatomised, and your skeleton kept in a glass case at Surgeons' Hall.
ottomy
The vulgar word for a skeleton.
ottomy
A thin man, a skeleton, a dwarf. Vulgar pronunciation of ANATOMY. Shakspeare has ATOMY.
out
A dram glass. These glasses are two-OUT (half-quartern), three-OUT, and four-OUT. An habitué of a gin-shop, desirous of treating a brace of friends, calls for "a quartern of gin and three OUTS," by which he means three glasses which will exactly contain the quartern. Really, the word glasses is understood. The man actually means, and one or more three-OUT glasses.
out and out
Prime, excellent, of the first quality; beyond measure. OUT-AND-OUTER, one who is of an OUT-AND-OUT description, "up" to anything.
out at heels
In declining circumstances.
out of collar
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
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